1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector assembly in which a secondary lock is provided to secure contact terminals within an insulative housing and more particularly to an electrical connector having a plurality of rows of contact terminals spaced in a densely populated array.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Many conventional electrical connectors employ some sort of secondary locking or terminal position assurance member to insure that electrical terminals are properly seated within a connector housing. Such connectors are commonly employed in the automotive industry. Conventional electrical connectors of this type can employ either lanced or lanceless contact terminals. A lanced contact terminal would have a metal lance projecting from one surface. Lanced contacts have certain drawbacks. For example, the presence of a protruding lance on a contact may cause problems for a harness maker since the protruding contacts may snag wires in the harness during assembly. Also, lance contacts, which are normally resiliently deflectable upon insertion into a housing, may be plastically deformed such that the lance is not properly redeployed and does not establish a satisfactory engagement with the insulative housing. For this reason, many electrical connectors employ lanceless contact terminals in which a resilient contact member is deflected upon insertion of the lanceless terminal into the housing. The deflectable plastic latch used with lanceless contacts is normally cammed upon insertion of a contact and then returns to engage a shoulder on the contact terminal. Electrical connectors using lanceless contact terminals quite often employ a secondary lock in the form of a comb or other member which can be inserted into the insulative housing and into engagement with a surface on the lanceless contact. Secondary locking members which are insertable into engagement with a primary resilient latch are also used on conventional multi-contact electrical connectors.
U.S. Pat. 4,557,542 discloses an electrical connector employing a secondary lock wedge bar which is inserted through the mating face of the connector. Portions of this wedge can be inserted into a cavity between two deflectable latch arms which form part of the insulative housing which terminals are received. The wedge shaped secondary locking bar insertable into this connector can only be inserted between the deflectable latch arms if the latch arms are in proper position securing lanceless terminals in the insulative housing.
An alternative method of locking terminals in a housing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,799 which includes a lock plate attached to the mating face of the connector body. This lock plate can be inserted onto the mating face of the connector into engagement with hooks placed on the front of contact terminals received within the connector body. Terminals can subsequently be positively locked as a group by inserting a comb through slots in the floor of the connector body and into engagement with the terminals.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,655,525 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,864 each disclose a different terminal retainer or secondary lock configuration. In each of these patents, a locking insert is inserted into the rear of the housing to secure the terminals in place. These inserts are insertable behind deflectable resilient sections of the housing which provide room for the insert only when the terminal is properly positioned within the housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,760 discloses an electrical connector employing lanceless contact terminals. These terminals have a recess located between areas in which the terminal has a larger cross-section. Flexible wall sections of the housing are received within this recess when the terminals are appropriately positioned and a separate locking bar can be inserted behind the flexible walls when the terminals are properly positioned in the housing.
Each of the aforementioned electrical connectors employ secondary locking members with connectors having two rows of terminals. Furthermore, each of the aforementioned electrical connectors employ a secondary locking member which comprises a separate piece and must be inserted into the housing after the contact terminals have been positioned within the housing. U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,662 discloses a connector assembly with a prestaged terminal retainer secured to the main body of the housing at the rear of the housing. This terminal retainer has a plurality of resilient fingers having a conical configuration. These resilient fingers retain the terminals in position. The resilient fingers are inserted into conical cavities in an insulative housing when the resilient fingers in this soft shell connector have collapsed into engagement with a circumferential recess on the contact terminal. U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,048 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,220 disclose connectors also having resilient fingers engaging terminals. These retainer members can be attached to the soft shell housing of an electrical connector after the terminals are secured within the retainer. The device shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,443,048 does not employ any secondary locking feature. The electrical connector shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,544,220 does employ a secondary locking capability.
None of these conventional electrical connectors provide for dense population of electrical terminals in multiple rows in a secondary lock connector. The instant invention provides such a configuration.